The present invention relates to a textile processing composition and more particularly, to a composition and method for treating textiles using such composition in textile wet processing.
In the wet processing of textiles, oil spots often occur during finishing, resulting in defective goods. One type of oil spot is a silicone oil spot, which may arise from the separation of silicone softeners, for example, when such softeners are applied to or stripped off of a textile. For producers and processors of textiles this presents a problem that is not easily resolved. Many processes for treating textiles therefore have to account for, and merely accept a certain percentage of spotted products that may not be effectively marketed.
One solution has been an attempt to improve the emulsion stability of textile finishing compositions using non-ionic surfactants. This still has presented problems, in that under severe processing conditions, such as when the temperature of a textile finish emulsion is above the cloud point, the emulsion will lose its water solubility. The loss of water solubility may result in a greater degree of spotting in the textile. Furthermore, highly alkaline processing conditions also may contribute to a decrease in emulsion stability and an increase in spotting.
Therefore, a need exists for a composition and a method for treating textiles that will decrease the amount of spotting, specifically from silicone emulsions, while doing so under broadly varying processing conditions.